Maternal WIC Participation Improves Breastfeeding Rates: A Statewide Analysis of WIC Participants

This study examined the association between length of exposure to Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) services and breastfeeding initiation/duration. All women with singleton live births, first certified into MA WIC prenatally or postpartum (2001–2009), with complete breastfeeding and covariate data (maternal race, age, education, smoking status, BMI, HH income and size, birth weight, whether full or preterm, and sex) were included (n = 122,506). Regressions models were used to examine timing of WIC entry (i.e., trimester of prenatal or postpartum) with: (1) breastfeeding initiation, (2) mean duration (3) and 3, 6 and 12 month durations. Among prenatal entrants, first (vs. third) trimester entry was associated with a higher likelihood of initiation for both primiparous, and multiparous mothers (10 and 32 % respectively; p < .01). Prenatal entrants breastfed 1.7 (primiparous), and 3.4 (multiparous) weeks longer than postpartum entrants (p < .0001). Among multiparous women, first trimester entry was associated a greater likelihood of breastfeeding for three (15 % greater), six (25 % greater) and twelve (33 % greater) months compared to third trimester entrants (p < .0001). Greater exposure to WIC services improves breastfeeding rates among a low income diverse population of women.